Zhalfirin Decoy
Creature — Human Soldier
: Tap target creature. Activate only if you had a creature enter the battlefield under your control this turn.
- CMC
- 2
- Mana cost
- Color identity
- W
- Rarity
- uncommon
- Set
- Modern Horizons
- Price
- $0.09
- EDHREC rank
- #27879
Zhalfirin Decoy taps any target creature at instant speed for just one white mana, and it recharges every time you scry — making it a repeatable tap-down engine in any deck built around scrying. The floor is a one-shot Icy Manipulator on a 1/1 body; the ceiling, in a dedicated scry shell, is locking down a threat every single turn.
Format Analysis
Where it lives, where it can’t
| Format | Verdict |
|---|---|
| commander | legal |
| legacy | legal |
| modern | legal |
| pioneer | not legal |
| standard | not legal |
| vintage | legal |
| pauper | not legal |
| oathbreaker | legal |
Zhalfirin Decoy is a Commander card through and through — the scry payoff compounds over a long game in ways that don't translate to faster formats. In Legacy and Vintage it's legal but irrelevant; the formats are too fast and the tap effect too low-impact to compete. Modern has better tap effects attached to more threatening bodies. Commander is where Zhalfirin Decoy earns its slot: white scry engines like Sensei's Divining Top, Thassa, God of the Sea, and Elspeth Conquers Death keep the tap ability live, and in a 100-card singleton format even a one-mana repeatable tap effect accrues real board control over four opponents.
Key Combos
Combo lines featuring this card
Price Context
Current price
$0.09 bulk tier
At $0.09, Zhalfirin Decoy is pure bulk — the kind of card you pull from a box and drop in without a second thought. The price is unlikely to move unless a new commander pushes scry-tribal into the spotlight, so grab it now and don't look back.
Explore
Sources
Mentioned
Updated . Data from Scryfall, EDHREC, and Commander Spellbook.